Thursday, February 24, 2011

A contest open to singers residing in Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean islands.
Closing date June 15, 2011
Prize : cash award of 10.000 €, a wide-scale promotion package, a concert in Paris and a tour in Africa.

Starting March 7th, our transmission to South Asia from 1600 to 1700 UTC on 11550 KHz will be replaced by 9435 KHz. While we do notice the occasional problem of noise and interference in certain parts of India, the new frequncy has a stronger signal than 11550 KHz. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank listeners for monitoring the reception condition for us in India.

Euphonium player Lewis Musson from Hulme, Manchester is the winner of this year's BBC Radio 2's Young Brass Soloist Award following the final held on Saturday 19 February at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

The award was presented by last year's winner, fellow euphonium player, Matthew White.

Talking about the Award, Lewis said: "I'm very excited at the prospect of playing with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Championship standard brass band, and found the whole event very exciting, nerve-racking but very enjoyable."

Adjudicating the final was Paul Archibald, one of the country's leading trumpet players, and tuba maestro Les Neish.

Judge Paul Archibald said: "Having both judged the semi final, Les Neish and I knew that the standard in the final was going to be high and it certainly was. We were looking for a musician who can communicate, who can feel for the music, someone who can really hold the audience, a complete player, and we found that in the playing of Lewis Musson."

Lewis now has the unique opportunity to play with the BBC Concert Orchestra on Radio 2's flagship live music programme Friday Night Is Music Night, and to play as a soloist with one of the UK's top brass bands at a prestigious event.

Robert Gallacher, Editor, Radio 2, comments: "On behalf of Radio 2, I'd like to congratulate Lewis on his well-deserved prize and we look forward to him performing on Friday Night Is Music Night."

The final was presented by Frank Renton and highlights of the event will be broadcast on Radio 2 on Thursday 24 February at 10pm. After this date, the programme can be listened to via the Radio 2 website at bbc.co.uk/radio2.

The BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Soloist of the Year is one of the ways that Radio 2, which attracts over 13 million listeners each week, is committed to supporting music at grassroots level.

The Independent, 19 Feb 2011, Simon O'Hagan: From the Saturday Quiz: "In August 1985, the BBC World Service went off-air for the first time when workers staged a strike in protest at the Government's decision to ban a documentary featuring an interview with whom?"

Every month, we pose a new question to listeners as part of our Global Exchange segment in the We've Got Mail program. If we choose your letter to read on the air, you will receive a special RTI souvenir!

How would you like to be RTI's Listener of the Season?! Write us a thoughtful letter about what you think of our programs. Every season, RTI's We've Got Mail! will choose a letter writer to be our Listener of the Season.

You will receive a personal phone call from We've Got Mail! hosts Natalie Tso and Shirley Lin, to be played on the program, special RTI souvenirs, and an introduction of yourself and your letter on RTI's homepage.

Just write to us at P.O. Box 123-199, Taipei, Taiwan or email us at rti@rti.org.tw

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Singapore government has announced, as part of the nation's annual budget, that the radio and TV licence has been abolished effective 1 January, 2011.

The licences were first introduced in 1963. Premises with TV or radio sets, owners of vehicles with radios and dealers selling broadcast apparatus, paid for these licences. The fees collected were used to fund public service broadcast content. In 2009, Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) collected S$132.5 million ($103.4 million) in fees.

"From 2011, MDA will receive government funding for public service broadcasts. MDA will work closely with the industry to continuously improve the quality and reach of PSB content, including making them available on new platforms, in step with Singaporeans' changing media habits," MDA Chief Executive Officer, Aubeck Kam, said.

A leading Korean broadcaster, Lee Jong Hwa, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in Kuala Lumpur on 9 March.

Dr Lee is Executive Director of the Future Media Strategy Department at Korean public broadcaster KBS.

The award is being bestowed in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the field of Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB), also known as mobile broadcasting.

It will be presented at the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2011, which takes place on 8-11 March. The symposium, the seventh of its kind organised by the ABU, comprises a conference, workshops and an exhibition.

Dr Lee's contribution to the industry is in developing and enhancing the T-DMB as the world's first model of mobile multimedia broadcasting.

He successfully put the T-DMB service on the market, an event that added the "mobile dimension" to broadcasting services. Dr Lee has been working for KBS for 30 years.

"I believe that the award is also an honour for my colleagues who contributed to the development of T-DMB and other new media," Dr Lee said.

"New services such as 3DTV, OHTV, AT-DMB, and smart media based on new technologies certainly need a pathfinder. The KBS has gladly taken up that role.

"The Lifetime Achievement Award will provide a new energy that will thrust KBS forward. Even though the award was given to me as an individual, this surely is recognition that all engineers in KBS have waited for."

Monday, February 21, 2011

Taiwan-based PCJ Media has announced the creation of a new international shortwave radio service with targeted programming to Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia/Pacific. PCJ sees an opportunity to fill a void being left by large publicly funded broadcasters.

In the last few months a number of well-respected international broadcasters have annnounced that they will drop their shortwave transmissions to these regions in favour of internet and podcasts. To fill this void, PCJ’s new service would broadcast in five languages, with programming targeted to the audiences of those specific languages. New distribution platforms such as the internet will also be used.

Every month, we pose a new question to listeners as part of our Global Exchange segment in the We've Got Mail program. If we choose your letter to read on the air, you will receive a special RTI souvenir!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Bulgaria’s Focus Radio Network is to broadcast four news bulletins a day in English from Washington as of tomorrow (21 February). The bulletins for Bulgaria will be aired at 10:30 am, 2:30 pm, 6:30 pm and 10:30 pm local time and will be prepared by Voice of America (VOA). Broadcasting news bulletins in English is in compliance with a contract between Focus News Agency and the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

The target group of the English news bulletins of Focus Radio is Bulgarian citizens and all foreign nationals and institutions staying or working in Bulgaria. The top international pieces of news from Washington will be aired in the news bulletins in Bulgarian.

China Radio International (CRI) and the East China Sea fleet launch "Navy Blue Radio Wave" activity Sunday in Zhoushan city of the coastal Zhejiang Province.

On the opening ceremony, CRI donated radios, stationeries and other school supplied to the 8th convoy fleet. The activity enables soldiers to listen to CRI programs and can enrich their spare time. Some of the donations will be delivered to the governments and people of Oman, Yemen and Djibouti via the convoy.

The 8th convoy fleet will leave for the Aden Gulf and seas off the Somali coast to protect vessels from rampant pirate hijackings.

The Kyrgyz parliament today adopted a law on expanding the broadcast reach of its radio station, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports. The “parliament radio” informs people about the unicameral body’s agenda, debates, and votes that it will hold. The radio broadcasts can currently only be heard by residents of Bishkek and the northern Chui Oblast near the country’s capital.

Parliament speaker Akhmatbek Keldibekov told journalists that talks with local radio stations are under way to make the signal available to every town and village in the country.

The UK’s Broadcast Minister Ed Vaizey has confirmed to a group of MPs that the FM waveband will not be switched off in 2015 and will remain as one of a number of multi platform transmission options for local commercial radio. He also confirmed that he was prepared to take a look at the recent decision by Ofcom to limit licence renewal terms for local commercial stations to just seven years.

Friday, February 18, 2011

(VOV) - More than 1,000 trees were planted on the campus of the Television-Broadcasting College at a tree-planting festival launched by Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) on February 18.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Prof. Dr. Vu Van Hien, VOV General Director, emphasised that the festival will raise awareness of environmental protection among the editorial, managing, and teaching staff and all the students of the college.
It will also contribute to Vietnam’s effort to deal with the negative impact of climate change, he said.

Adventist World Radio in Vietnamese
0100-0200 on Saturday on 15445 Taipei 100 kW / 250 deg. for Southeastern Asia

Sudan Radio Service for Eastern Africa
-on 13720 Al-Dhabbaya 250 kW / 245 deg.
0400-0500 in Arabic and 0500-0600 in Arabic and English
-on 17745 Sines 250 kW / 114 deg
1500-1530 in English and 1530-1700 in Arabic
-on 17700 Ascension 250 kW / 65 deg. 1600-1700 in Arabic
-on 9840 Al-Dhabbaya 300 kW / 240 deg. According to the following schedule:
1700-1730 from Monday to Friday in the Dinka, Zande, Muro, Bari and Shiluk vernaculars and on Saturday and Sunday in Arabic and 1730-1800 daily in English

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A powerful solar eruption that triggered a huge geomagnetic storm has disturbed radio communications and could disrupt electrical power grids, radio and satellite communication in the next days, NASA said. A strong wave of charged plasma particles emanating from the Jupiter-sized sun spot, the most powerful seen in four years, has already disrupted radio communication in southern China.

The Class X flash - the largest such category - erupted at 0156 UTC on Tuesday, according to the US space agency. “X-class flares are the most powerful of all solar events that can trigger radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms,” disturbing telecommunications and electric grids, NASA said yesterday.

Geomagnetic storms usually last 24 to 48 hours - but some could last for many days, read a statement from the US National Weather Service. “Ground to air, ship to shore, shortwave broadcast and amateur radio are vulnerable to disruption during geomagnetic storms. Navigation systems like GPS can also be adversely affected.”

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory said it saw a large coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with the flash blasting toward Earth at about 560 miles per second (900 kilometers per second). The flare spread from Active Region 1158 in the sun’s southern hemisphere, which had so far lagged behind the northern hemisphere in flash activity. It followed several smaller flares in recent days.

“The calm before the storm,” read a statement on the US National Weather Service Space Weather Prediction Service. “Three CMEs are enroute, all a part of the Radio Blackout events on February 13, 14, and 15 (UTC). The last of the three seems to be the fastest and may catch both of the forerunners about mid to late … February 17.”

The China Meteorological Administration reported that the solar flare caused “sudden ionospheric disturbances” in the atmosphere above China and jammed shortwave radio communications in the southern part of the country. The CMA warned there was a high probability that large solar flares would appear over the next three days, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said meanwhile that the solar storm would result in spectacular Northern Lights displays starting today. One coronal mass ejection reached Earth on February 14, “sparking Valentine’s Day displays of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) further south than usual.”

“Two CMEs are expected to arrive in the next 24-48 hours and further… displays are possible some time over the next two nights if skies are clear,” it said. The office published geomagnetic records dating back to the Victorian era which it hopes will help in planning for future storms. “Life increasingly depends on technologies that didn’t exist when the magnetic recordings began,” said Alan Thomson, BGS head of geomagnetism. “Studying the records will tell us what we have to plan and prepare for to make sure systems can resist solar storms,” he said.

A 2009 report by a panel of scientists assembled by NASA said that a sustained and powerful solar flare outbreak could overwhelm high-voltage transformers with electrical currents and short-circuit energy grids. The report, titled “Severe Space Weather Events - Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts” warned that such a catastrophic event could cost the United States alone up to two trillion dollars in repairs in the first year - and it could take up to 10 years to fully recover.

Major Western media organizations, faced with big budget cuts, are turning to more modern ways to reach out to Chinese audiences, shifting their focus from shortwave radio to digital media.

Voice of America (VOA) became the second mainstream Western media organization this year to announce plans to cancel its radio broadcasts in Chinese, following the BBC World Service, which will end a number of foreign-language services including Chinese.

The VOA cuts will include the dismissal of 45 Chinese-language broadcasters, 38 from the 69-strong Mandarin service and all broadcasters from its Cantonese services, according to a report in The Washington Times on Wednesday.

It said the cuts were outlined as a cost-cutting measure in the fiscal 2012 budget report of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, VOA's parent agency.

If the cuts are approved by the US Congress, all VOA broadcasts on shortwave radio and on television in Chinese will end on Oct 1.

Facing similar budget issues, Britain's Foreign Office, which funds the BBC World Service, said it would cut its grant by 16 percent, resulting in the closure of five language services, and the loss of approximately 650 jobs. Radio programs in Mandarin will be among those to be scrapped, according to the New York Times.

In the meantime, both organizations have said they will focus more on new media.

The BBC is considering plans to reinstate axed shortwave World Service radio broadcasts on a short-term basis to regions where major events are taking place, following the revolution in Egypt, reports The Guardian.

Shortwave radio broadcasts of the BBC Arabic service, which has around 400,000 listeners in Egypt, will be significantly reduced within weeks as part of plans to save £46m from the World Service budget, a 20% cut from its £253m annual budget. World Service broadcasts on shortwave are being cut back in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia as part of the cost saving drive.

An email sent to Bush House staff today by Peter Horrocks, the BBC’s global news director, revealed plans to respond to major events in particular regions by buying up shortwave radio capacity, against a backdrop of violent political uprising sweeping across the Middle East.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Mongolia hopes to launch a space satellite by 2015 with help from Japan, local media reported today. A Japanese space exploration team visited Mongolia and organized a two-day workshop at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The workshop was attended by representatives of both countries’ governments and a number of Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Hitachi and Sumitomi.

Mongolia now uses the “Ipstar-5″ broadband satellite for the delivery of TV and radio programmes in rural areas. It uses the “Intelsat” satellite for telecommunications and mobile phone services, and receives digital data on weather and natural disasters from low-earth orbit satellites.

“The Mongolian government considers launching Mongolian satellites into space as an important project that can contribute significantly to the country’s economic development,” said Amgalanbat, an official from Mongolia’s Information, Communication Technology and Post Authority.

The Intelsat New Dawn satellite is scheduled to be launched on 29 March 2011 from Arianespace’s launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. Intelsat New Dawn is the first ever African private sector communications satellite.

A joint venture between a consortium led by Convergence Partners and Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, the New Dawn satellite and its 28 C-band and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz transponder units are designed specifically to supply critical communications infrastructure for African customers. Operating from a geostationary orbital slot at 32.8° East, Intelsat New Dawn will be ideally positioned to serve Africa through a payload optimized to deliver wireless backhaul, broadband and media content - the fastest growing satellite-based applications in Africa.

Delivered on time and within the originally announced $250 million budget, the Intelsat New Dawn venture has been approximately 90% funded from African sources. The Convergence Partners consortium also includes strategic shareholder Altirah Telecoms and the not-for-profit Convergence Partners Foundation.

When placed into service in the second quarter of 2011, Intelsat New Dawn will address the capacity backlog faced by African wireless telecom operators, broadband service providers, corporate network service providers and media operators who have experienced exceptional growth along with the economic development of the region. Customers contracting for capacity in advance of launch are the leading communications services providers in the region, including Vodacom International Ltd., Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Ltd., Bharti Airtel (originally contracted through Celtel Nigeria) and Gilat Satcom.

Thierry Guillemin, Chief Technical Officer of Intelsat, said, “With manufacturing of the satellite now concluding, our team transitions its focus to the launch mission in French Guiana. We will conduct tests on-site as the final preparations for this historic satellite are completed.”

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, said, “With a launch slot secured for Intelsat New Dawn, we are now on the cusp of seeing this landmark venture become a reality. The project has been in development for five years, with the last two-and–a-half focusing on construction. When launched, the satellite will not only deliver crucial services specifically tailored for Africa, it will also herald the dawn of a new era where Africans enjoy far greater involvement in the space communications industry.”

Commissioned in December 2008 and built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, the hybrid C-band/Ku-band satellite will be operated and marketed as a part of the global Intelsat fleet, bringing to 22 the number of Intelsat satellites serving Africa. Arianespace was selected as the launch partner and will use the most powerful version in the Ariane 5 range, the Ariane 5 ECA (Cryogenic Evolution type A), for the dual payload mission of the Intelsat New Dawn and a satellite being launched by another commercial operator. The Ariane 5 launcher for the Intelsat New Dawn satellite recently arrived at the Spaceport in French Guiana, where it is being readied for the mission.

Dutch commercial station Radio Seagull will broadcast “The Jingle Special”, produced and presented by DJ Norman Barrington, on Easter Monday 25 April 2011 at 1300-1500 UTC, repeated at 0100-0300 UTC on 26 April.

2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the birth of PAMS of Dallas, arguably the creator of the sound of top 40 radio throughout the 1960s, while Easter Monday is the anniversary of start of the most famous of offshore pirate radio stations, with DJs like Robbie Dale and Don Allen who made clever use of jingles from PAMS. Thus, Europe had it’s first taste of Top 40 Radio – with masses of American Jingles.

The programme takes a brief look at the history of jingles, as well as how they are constructed.

Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) will host the eighth Asia Media Summit (AMS 8) in Hanoi from May 22-25 under the theme “”Digital Media Everywhere: Repositioning Broadcasting”.

Two plenary sessions of the Summit will take place on May 24-25, attracting about 500 international and 200 domestic delegates including general directors, executive directors, managers, policy makers, and broadcasting and television experts and scholars from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Africa, North America and the United Arab Emirates.

Fifteen symposiums and five conferences will be held during the summit, which will be hosted by Vietnam for the first time.

At a preparatory session for the AMS 8 on January 12, VOV Deputy General Director Dao Duy Hua said preparations have been made to ensure the success of the Summit and leave good impressions on the delegates.

The annual event, which was established by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) in 2004, is expected to provide broadcasting and television agencies in the region with a platform to share experience and ideas. So far, it has been held seven times, five times in Malaysia and twice in China.

When you are on the road and you feel lonely, you should know you always have a companion.

This is the message that radio programmes on Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) Traffic Information Channel for the National Highway want to share with audiences driving on the roads linking the two ends of the country.

After the success of the VOV Traffic Information Channel in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the strategic unit of the first real radio channel in Vietnam is busy preparing to launch its exclusive version for road users on National Highway1A. This version, called You will never drive alone will be on air at FM 91MHz in 2011.

As a version of the VOV Traffic Information Channel, information on the traffic situation will dominate the programme. However, its content is totally different from the programmes for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Vu Minh Tuan, Director of the VOV Traffic Information Channel, said that Rush Hour, a popular programme in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will not be included in this version. Unlike the fast pace of information in the programme for those cities, the National Highway programme will have a slower rhythm and feature brief traffic news and weather forecasts updated every 30 minutes. The news airtime will vary depending on the traffic situation on the highway.

Priority will be given to road accidents, risk warnings and traffic problems. There will be a wide range of buffer programmes between the news reports to share driving experiences, information about dangerous roads, portraits of interesting people and survival skills for drivers to deal with robbery, drugs and social evils.

The traffic Information Channel will also provide information for passengers via short messages services as well as music on demand.

The programme aims to become the best companion of drivers and passengers and it hopes to fill up the loneliness they may face on the road.

VOV will invest heavily in the programme with at least 1,000 cameras to be installed at traffic hot spots along the highway. A series of shortwave transmission sites will be placed at specific places so journalists can acts as both technicians and managers of the local freelancers.

You will never drive alone is expected to become a special edition to make traveling along the national highway more pleasant. The updated information will also help administrative agencies understand their limitations and provide businesses a golden opportunity to create interesting, new services for road users. VOV will also make its transmission centres attractive rest stops providing petrol, food and traffic emergency services.

The content of the programme is now completed and the Traffic Information Channel for the National Highway will soon be broadcast so travelers will have a good travel mate for their long road ahead.

To receive the 1st Club Diploma you have to send in one reception report every month for 12 months in a row, indicating the day, time and frequency, as well as a few details about the program content and a report on the reception conditions.

There are four diplomas, including an Honorary Diploma for the 5th year of reporting and a Loyalty Diploma for the 10th year, as well as 2 old-timer labels. Even if you tune in to our programs occasionally, please drop us a line and tell us more about yourself and your hobbies and interests.

Don’t hesitate to send in your remarks and suggestions about our broadcasts to help us draw a pattern of our listeners’ interests in order to decide on future content.

Deutsche Welle has experienced jamming of its signals from the Hotbird 8 satellite. The source of the jamming has not been confirmed. Engineers at Deutsche Welle detected interference of transmissions coming from the Hotbird 8 satellite beginning Monday at 13:07 UTC. It is believed the DW transmissions are being “jammed” by foreign signals, though the source of the signals can not be confirmed.

Effect of jamming (picture supplied by Deutsche Welle)

Deutsche Welle last experienced jamming in February 2010, which was believed to have emanated in Iran. The disturbances are affecting DW-TV Europe, DW-TV Arabia, as well as very high frequency (VHF) and shortwave signals in regions including Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. TV live streaming on Deutsche Welle’s multi-language news website is also affected by the disturbances.

To ensure the transfer of Deutsche Welle content, alternate transmission services have been arranged for Internet and satellite broadcasting. Partner stations that rebroadcast DW have been informed.

DRM broadcasts are to start soon from Malaysia following the recent installation of HF Transmitters in Malaysia. DRM Members Continental Electronics http://www.contelec.com/ have recently completed the installation of three HF transmitters in Malaysia and following a series of successful trial broadcasts last month, plans to begin regular DRM broadcasts are now being finalised by the Minister. There has also been an undertaking to purchase a large order of DRM receivers.

Monday, February 14, 2011

The much-anticipated British oldies station OneGold, which received a lot of publicity in the UK 18 months ago but never actually launched, has finally started broadcasting, but the only area that can receive it over the air is the Costa Brava in Spain, where it is available on 102.7 MHz. For the rest of the world, the station is streaming on its new website at http://www.onegold.co.uk.

Plans to use mediumwave 1395 kHz were abandoned after it became clear that the transmitter at Trintelhaven in the Netherlands could not deliver a commercially viable signal into the UK. That transmitter was used until a few weeks ago by Big L, but has been taken off the air due to financial problems. Until last week, two of the OneGold presenters, Mike Read and Paul Shanley, were broadcasting via Big L.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The BBC is ceasing its 648 kHz transmissions of World Service English language radio on 27 March, 2011.

We have had to make some difficult decisions about the distribution of BBC World Service radio around the world, as a result of the Spending Review settlement that BBC World Service received at the end of 2010.

Closure of the 648 kHz service continues the process of withdrawing from direct broadcasts to Europe in response to a declining number of direct listeners.

However BBC World Service continues to be available in Europe by satellite, cable and online.

In the UK it is available on dedicated channels across the whole of the UK on DAB, online and on all digital TV platforms. This is in addition to overnight transmissions of BBC World Service on Radio 4 frequencies.

Because of poor reception condition in South Asia, RTI has decided to use 9435 KHz from 1600 to 1700 UTC on a trial basis, starting February 13th. During the 4-day trial period, 11550 KHz will be temporarily suspended. Another frequency,12055 KHz, will remain unchanged.

USA: As of 9 February WYFR Family Radio broadcasts a new emission in English
2000-2100, frequency 9830 Nauen 250 kW / 202 deg for Western Africa

Turkey: As of 1 February The Voice of Turkey has made the following frequency changes:
1600-1655 in Persian, new frequency 9530 Emerler 500 kW / 105 deg; previous frequency was 9530
2300-2355 in English, new frequency 5960 Emerler 500 kW/ 310 deg; previous frequency was 7330

Ukraine: As of 1 February Radio Ukraine International works in short-wave frequencies only
1500-1800 in Ukrainian, frequency 7435 Kharkov 100 kW / 55 deg for Russia All other emissions have been cancelled.

Vatican Radio celebrates its 80th anniversary this Saturday. Since being set up by Guglielmo Marconi in 1931, the station has been as a beacon for transmitting the message of the Church during the rise of Fascism, World War II, and the Cold War. Yesterday evening, a special conference on the 80th anniversary was hosted by the Vatican Museums. The keynote address was given by a special representative of the Secretariat of State, Monsignor Peter Bryan Wells.

The address focused on the need for Vatican Radio to use the newest communication tools from the podcast to the iPad, from social networks like Facebook, to micro-blogging platforms like Twitter. The new means of communication are to be thought of as interlocutors, not as competitors said Monsignor Wells. He said that radio should look on new media as an opportunity, not as a threat.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Korea's national broadcaster, KBS, has signed on to form a consortium with the leading companies of 3D industries to accelerate the development of 3D content, in an effort to meet the challenge of the rapidly growing market.

Last year, KBS broadcast the 2010 Daegu IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Challenge live in 3D, achieving a new standard of 3D broadcasting.

Among the companies that are involved in the consortium are Stereopictures, which specialises in 2D to 3D conversion, and Two Eye Digital.

Lee Dong-shik, Executive Managing Director of the Policy Planning Division of KBS, said it is important for the consortium members to cooperate in order to tackle the market that is still at a developing stage. He added that, the consortium led by KBS would lay a foundation for 3D industry in Korea.

Mr Ono is currently President and CEO of NHK Enterprises Inc, the business arm of NHK, and will officially assume his new role on Thursday.

At a press conference held at NHK Broadcasting Centre, Mr Matsumoto, who took office 15 days ago, said: "Mr Ono has a long and distinguished career in programming and a thorough understanding of the role of a broadcaster in the digital era. With his exemplary decision-making and leadership skills, I am convinced Mr Ono will fulfill his new role with distinction."

Mr Ono said: "NHK is about to draw up its next Corporate Plan, and we must undertake further reform. I would like to make the most of my experience in the business arm and support President Matsumoto as we take on this challenging task."

Mr Ono, 63, joined NHK in 1971 as a programme director after graduating from Tokyo University. He served several years in NHK's Okayama station and moved to its Tokyo headquarters where he mainly worked as a science producer.

In the late 1990s, Mr Ono was a vice-chairman of the ABU Programme Committee, while he was head of the Science Programmes Division of NHK.

At NHK he held key posts in the Programme Production Department, the Programming Department, and the Corporate Planning Bureau before becoming Managing Director in 2005. He moved to NHK Enterprises Inc. in 2007 and was appointed as President and CEO the following year.

The Voice of Russia (VoR) has been granted permission to broadcast in Switzerland on mediumwave from the Monte Ceneri transmitter [on 558 kHz]. The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) awarded the station a corresponding licence.

VoR aims to start broadcasting on 1 March 2011. The programme service is targeted at foreign listeners as well as Russian citizens living abroad and reception will be possible primarily in the Tessin and northern Italy. As Voice of Russia is transmitted from Switzerland, the programme service is subject to the registration obligation and programme content is subject to supervision by the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television and general supervision by OFCOM.

In accordance with international agreements, a total of five mediumwave frequency bands are available for Switzerland, though these are not currently being used. An assessment of requirements performed by OFCOM in autumn 2008 indicated that interest in mediumwave had wained in the Swiss media sector.

On 22 December 2010 the Federal Council adopted the new Broadcasting Directives thereby creating the legal foundations for releasing unused frequencies to prospective customers.

Location: ABC Australia, with exact location to be determined Job ID: Application closing date: Friday, 1st April 2011 Salary range: The Award Fellow will receive full funding support from the ABC

The ABC is seeking expressions of interest from media practitioners across the Pacific for the 2011 ABC International Pacific Fellowship Award.

The Award Fellow will spend four months at the ABC in Australia on a professional development program focused on enhancing their content making skills across a range of media platforms and maximising audience engagement.

The Fellow will be assigned a senior ABC Mentor for the duration of their program. This Mentor will be responsible for ensuring the Fellow receives appropriate opportunities to develop their skills against an agreed professional development plan.

The Award Fellow will receive full funding support from the ABC.

Expressions of interest are sought from Pacific Islanders with at least five years’ experience as a content maker in the region.

How to Apply
Applications by email are preferred.
Please send the following to internationalprojects@abc.net.au by close of business Friday, 1 April 2011:
1. A letter stating your reasons for applying, including what you would like to achieve from the Fellowship
2. Your resume
3. A written statement from your employer in support of your application

The Voice of America (VOA) has launched a new “blog network”. All of VOA’s English language blogs are now conveniently listed on one webpage, including Digital Frontiers, a dynamic online discussion of privacy, identity and freedom in the digital age.

In addition to a single page that brings together links to all of VOA’s blog sites, visitors can see what others are saying about key issues, and what topics are generating the most interest. They can also interact with VOA journalists, see what story “tags” are being used the most, and find quick links to important resources.

VOA Director Danforth W. Austin says, “The new blog network has already generated significant audience gains because it’s easy to find original VOA content written for the web. Each blog is like a story beat, and all forms of media are pulled into one central place.” Mr Austin says, “It also offers our audience an easy way to have a dialogue with our reporters on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.”

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

The DR Board has confirmed its choice of Maria Rørbye Rønn as the new Director General of DR, Denmark’s national broadcaster. Since October 2010, Ms Rønn was Director General ad interim at DR following Kenneth Plummer’s resignation.

Rørbye Rønn previously worked in the Justice Ministry and was employed as corporate counsel at DR in 1995. She headed the DR Legal Policy and Strategy Department and has been DR’s representative at the EBU’s Legal and Public Affairs Committee for several years.

At DR, Ms Rønn recently negotiated a new public service agreement and developed a new strategy that is expected to be made public in May.

Sunday, February 06, 2011

In February we are looking for the name of the Czech scientist and explorer born in 1898 who took part in Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the North Pole and survived the 1928 crash of airship Italia during an expedition led by Umberto Nobile.

Your answers need to reach us by February 28th. In the meantime you can send us your comments regarding our programmes as well as reception reports specifying on which medium you heard us. We will confirm your report with a QSL card. The addresses are English@radio.cz or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague. Mailbox will be back in two weeks time. Until then, stay with Radio Prague if you can.

For the first time, the technical capability of the DRM+ digital radio system in FM band II is going to be tested in the UK. This four month long trial, organised by the DRM Consortium and its partners, will take place in the Edinburgh area of Scotland from February 2011.

The DRM+ transmission will operate into an existing antenna that is shared with two FM services via a combiner. Those services cover more than 500,000 people in urban, suburban and rural terrain. This will be a closed technical trial with no direct involvement from the public.

DRM provides many features to allow user-friendly, high quality radio to be broadcast, including use of station names rather than frequencies, consistent digital audio, additional text and visualisation, an EPG, alternate service signalling, and automatic service following to DRM, DAB, FM and AM services. More details can be found at http://www.drm.org

The purpose of the trial is to measure the coverage of DRM+ operating in various transmission modes (lower capacity, higher ruggedness; higher capacity, lower ruggedness). There will also be a comparison of the coverage of FM and DRM+ in terms of transmitter power. Other objectives include being able to assess the impact of DRM+ on FM and vice-versa; demonstrate the performance of DRM+ in a range of environments, for example, urban, suburban, rural, etc., and therefore provide an analysis of performance against the challenges of these environments. The pattern of the antenna will also be measured, in order to correlate performance in different directions with the expected performance. This trial should also provide suitable measurement data to international regulatory bodies, such as CEPT and ITU.

The trial transmissions will carry audio material consisting of both programme and test sequences. At least two modes will be tested to allow planning parameters to be determined for different scenarios.

DRM Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja said: “ After recent trials in Sri Lanka, Germany, Italy and Brazil this will give us a chance to test the DRM standard in its DRM+ extension to an extent never done before in a complex and challenging environment. We hope that by the early summer we will have accumulated additional data on the robustness and flexibility of DRM+”

Australia's radio broadcasters have been broadcasting emergency information on Cyclone Yasi as the powerful storm hit the state of Queensland.

With some communities facing flooding after the storm struck, northern Queensland local stations have been broadcasting cyclone warnings, evacuation plans and weather updates for the cyclone, the biggest recorded in Australia.

The storm pummelled coastal communities and destroyed hundreds of houses in far northern Queensland early yesterday. No deaths have been reported but two people were missing.

The national broadcaster, the ABC, and commercial radio stations have both signed memorandums of understanding with state and territory governments, making them official broadcasters of emergency information in times of emergency and crisis.

Radio played a crucial role in helping disseminate information to local communities before, during and after the serious floods in Queensland and the southeastern state of Victoria in December and January.

"In some communities where the electricity supply was cut and other forms of communications were unavailable, broadcast radio was often the only reliable way for flood information to be distributed," the CEO of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, told the ABU.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

RAE had faced a possible discontinuation of its service due to aging transmitter. One of our members received the email from Argentina’s RAE Japanese service, saying that RAE would have a budget to purchase a new transmitter with approval of Argentine government.The Japanese service staff told him that they received many emails and letters from Japan and many other countries in the world to ask for continuing the present transmission.

BBC Local Radio in England has added 722,000 listeners year on year and 466,000 quarter on quarter according to RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd) figures released today.

Overall reach for Local Radio in England came in at 7.43 million for Quarter 4 2010, compared to 6.71 million in Quarter 4 2009 and 6.96 million in Quarter 3 2010. Market share is stable and up 0.2 to 8.2% year on year and down from 8.4% by 0.2 quarter on quarter.

David Holdsworth, Controller of BBC English Regions, said: "This is the second quarter of growth in BBC Local Radio and is encouraging evidence that our renewed focus on high quality local news and information is resonating with audiences."

On 31 January, Radio Prague ended its shortwave transmissions from the Czech Republic. However, an agreement between Radio Prague and WRMI will allow shortwave transmissions to continue to the Caribbean and Latin America via Radio Miami International in English and Spanish. As of 1 February, the schedule for Radio Prague programmes via WRMI is:

This schedule will remain in effect until further notice. All broadcasts are on 9955 kHz with 50 kW from Miami on an azimuth of 160 degrees.

Jeff White, WRMI General Manager, said that “Radio Miami is happy to be able to help Radio Prague stay on the air, just as we did with Radio Slovakia International when its shortwave transmissions were scheduled to end last December 31. We have had close cooperation with Radio Prague for many years now, and we hope this cooperation will continue for many more years.”

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Dear friends, we are glad to announce that we now have over 1000 friends on Radio Romania International’s Facebook page. On this occasion, we want to give away a prize to Madalina Raicu from Ploiesti, Romania, as she was the 1000th visitor to “like” our page. Congratulations to our winner and we would like to let her know that her prize is on its way.

1000 happy thoughts for RRI’s more than 1000 Facebook friends! The team of Radio Romania International thanks everyone for following our programs and news on the Internet and on radio waves!

Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Yasi has hit the northern Queensland coast between Cairns and Townsville. Much damage to houses, property and infrastructure is anticipated within this area. Flooding and very high winds will also be a major problem for those people who haven’t managed to leave the area. Because of this the local ABC and commercial broadcasters expect severe damage to landbased TV and radio transmitters within the region. The ABC has requested Radio Australia to transmit the ABC’s northern Queensland regional radio service using a shortwave transmitter at Shepparton, Victoria to northern Queensland until further notice.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting that Tropical Cyclone Yasi will produce a very large rain depression which could see around 350mm fall into northern and central Australia.